


Nothing is as it Appears

by DrBrittanyReid



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 11:37:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4827743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrBrittanyReid/pseuds/DrBrittanyReid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A roommate he took on himself.   One that he saved from something or somebody he didn't know.  He didn't know that it was going to be this hard not to fall in love with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing is as it Appears

The apartment door opened and he stepped into his own little humble abode and his eyes flickered over every inch of it, in a bit of a panic before his eyes landed on her. He let out a breath that he hadn't even realized that he'd been holding once he found her, safe in his apartment. He wasn't sure how it came to be this way, the roommate he had attained after running into her on the street, her face soaked in tears and her clothes a bit disheveled on her slender body. It was unlike him to offer up his apartment as a safe house for somebody that he didn't even know, let alone a female. But something stirred in his soul when he looked into her vibrant green eyes that were terrified of something or somebody and he instinctively offered up his apartment as a place for her to live.

He didn't even know if she needed a place to live because she wouldn't talk to him. She wouldn't tell him what was going on or why she was scared or why she had been running in the first place. But he didn't need to know at the time, all he wanted to know was that she'd be safe. And he felt that he could offer her that safe feeling. And finally, after he'd shared his apartment with her for two weeks, she had started to talk a little with him, feeling comfortable enough to learn his name and for him to know hers.

He takes his bag off of his shoulder and sets it down on the counter, his eyes still looking at her as she's curled up by the window, reading a book she'd taken off of the bookshelf. She glances up at him, her green eyes looking into his eyes. He offers her a polite smile and an awkward wave.

“Hey, Charlotte,” Dr. Spencer Reid offered his roommate before he walked into the kitchen to get himself something to drink. 

“Hello, Dr. Reid,” she replied back, her voice quite and soft, almost as if she didn't want to be heard but she wasn't going to be rude.

He glances at her, curious about what she was running from but he wasn't about to push her to tell him. He grabs himself a bottle of water before grabbing one for Charlotte too before he walks over to her and hands her the bottle of water. She didn't jump when he got closer to her and for him, that was a small step in the right direction. Sometimes, she'd flinch when he'd hand her something or if he touched her arm accidentally. So he tried to keep his hands to himself, not wanting to inflict any sort of emotional torture toward her. 

“We caught the bad guy today. He was running a sex trafficking ring and abducting young girls to sell off,” he offered her, telling her a little bit about his couple days away. 

It often made him nervous that he had to go off to solve crimes in other cities and leaving her on her own. He knew that she was terrified of somebody and he had deduced that it was a man as she would flinch when he'd raise his voice in excitement or if he dropped something on the floor. He didn't have very many visitors so he didn't know how she'd react to a knock at the door but he didn't want to find out either.

“That's good,” she commented, trying to put on a smile but he knew instantly that it hadn't been a good day.

“Why don't you come away from the window and take a seat over here,” he offered, watching her with worry laced in his eyes. “Whatever you're looking for isn't there, I promise.”

She looks over at him, her eyes landing on his face. He knew that she was always watching for something or someone, petrified that whoever it was she was scared of would find her. He wished she would tell him what she was so scared about because he believed deep down to his core that he could help her. He wanted to bring her to meet the team, to let her know that she could have help if she would just ask for it. But any other time that he had mentioned going to meet the team, she'd instantly pull away from him, the terror written in her eyes. And he backed down, not wanting to set her off so that she wouldn't come to him when she felt the need to.

“I'm sorry,” he offered before backing away from her. “I'm going to go shower.

x-x-x

He let out a sigh as he hit his mattress only for his cell phone to ring again just as he closed his eyes. He groaned audibly and for once wished that the serial killers in the World would just take a vacation for a good two or three days. He grabbed his phone and saw the name JJ flashing across the screen. He took the call before being informed that he was to be back at the BAU in ten minutes or so to be briefed about a case. 

He pulled himself out of bed before pulling on his usual attire for work and packing himself a small to go bag to take with him on the plane. It was rare that he got called away so soon from returning but there were special cases that couldn't wait and he already knew that this case was going to be about an abducted child. He walked out into the living room and his eyes landed on Charlotte's sleeping form on his couch. He knew the feelings that he was feeling toward her couldn't be reciprocated. And why would he have feelings for her? He didn't understand because it wasn't like they'd ever had a lengthy conversation about one's likes or dislikes but somehow, he felt drawn to her.

“I wish you would tell me everything,” He whispered to himself before leaning down and kissing her forehead.

It was the only time that he was allowed to touch her without a terrified reaction from her; she had to be sleeping. He looks at her once more before scribbling her a note and then leaving the apartment, making sure to lock it behind him.

x-x-x

It had been a long forty-eight hours for Dr. Spencer Reid as he unlocks the door to his apartment, his eyes droopy and looking down toward the floor. He pushes the door open and is almost knocked over as Charlotte throws herself at him in a hug, her arms wrapping around him in an iron grip as if she couldn't get him close enough to her skin. He was surprised because she never initiated this sort of contact with him or any at all but to have her throw herself at him was a whole new level of absurd.

He hugged her back, holding her in close to him, which was as awkward for him as it probably was her. He looks down at her as she buries her face in his shirt and he knew that she was sobbing.

“It's okay,” he says a bit awkwardly as he tries his best to calm her down. He tried to find a place to put his hands but he was a bit confused with how to approach and handle the situation.

She didn't say anything as she clung to him but she let him usher them both inside and he shut and locked the door behind them. He was doing the best he could to be calming toward her despite his natural, awkward state. He was baffled and it wasn't often that something had baffled him but this, this took the cake. He couldn't understand the girl that he was living with and for once in his life, he so desperately wanted to. He wanted to know what she was thinking or feeling but when he looked up, he knew instantaneously that something horrible had happened today.

Things were strewn about his apartment and his books were on the floor without mentioning that the end tables were knocked over as well. It had looked as if somebody had been attacked in this apartment but Charlotte was the only that had been in the apartment. He looked down at her before carefully pulling her off of him to size her up and look her over before noticing the bruises on her upper arms and a black eye that she'd tried to conceal. He carefully ran his thumb over the bottom of her eye, wiping the concealer away, to reveal it.

“Oh Charlotte,” he said, his voice tender as he realized that he wasn't prepared for the mess that was known as Charlotte.

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I've never done. 
> 
> Never delved into the Criminal Minds FanFiction. 
> 
> But I'm going to try it.
> 
> If you have any suggestions, hit me up. :)
> 
> I'm always open.  
> -Brittany


End file.
